Now I will explain the rules of the mystery stew.
First of all, everyone has brought an item of their choice, correct? Usually the rules only allow for edible things, but we will also be accepting inedible items tonight. Hehe. This is what makes our mystery stew unique. But unsanitary items, like shoes or bugs, are strictly forbidden. Everyone should remember this is a girls’ meeting, after all.
All mystery stews have similar rules, but the most ironclad one is the “no spoilers” rule. You have put your items in an opaque container, and into the refrigerator in the kitchen, correct? I, the “pot bearer,” am the only one who can add things to the mystery stew. Let us dine on whatever comes out of the pot with our hearts racing in anticipation.
On to the next rule. You must finish your plate before taking your next serving. It is everyone’s responsibility to eat until the pot has been totally emptied.
Which mystery stew was it…the one with the terrible strawberry rice cake that really taught us a lesson? It was unbearably sweet from beginning to end. The moment the rice cake was thrown into the pot, the red bean paste inside became gooey and melted into the soup, and it was impossible to take out. Perhaps someone has brought another strawberry rice cake today. Well, no matter. The rule is that anything goes, after all.
Speaking of anything goes, do you remember the time there was a Chanel watch in the stew? Since it was dark, the member who had found it could only tell that it was a watch at first, and she complained that she barely got to eat anything because she couldn’t clear her plate. Then, after we finished off the stew and had some noodles and hot porridge and turned on the lights, we found that it was a Chanel watch, and a limited-edition model at that. Everyone made quite a fuss over it. The girl who they’d laughed at and pitied instantly became the object of everyone’s envy. The watch had suffered some heat damage, even though it was waterproof, and apparently cost a lot to fix. But still, that’s not a model you come by every day. I’d say she got it for pretty cheap if all she had to pay were the repair fees.
Who was the lucky girl? Ahh, yes, that’s right. That was also Itsumi. She was ecstatic…
I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I was talking about her again. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I am truly sorry.
Well, the next rule is—oh dear, newcomers, please don’t look so afraid. There will be times when the stew tastes awful, of course, but I have properly prepared desserts to cleanse your palates at the end. Tasty drinks and desserts are a must for a girls’ night, right?
It is customary for the club president to make desserts for the meeting. I spent all morning baking as best as I could. Last year we had crème brûlée, honey flan, strawberry Bavarian cream, and this time we will have—well, please save your excitement for the end.
The strawberry rice cake may have been a failure, but the melon-flavored snow cone syrup was also a disaster. The broth got all muddy and smelled like boiled-down perfume, and then, when we turned on the lights, we saw that it had turned our tongues green…Oh, what a horrible taste and smell it had! I shudder at the mere thought of it. I wonder if someone has brought syrup again today. I feel anxious about this at every meeting.
Oh right, there is one more rule: even after the meeting ends, you can’t tell anyone which item you’ve brought, and you can’t pry and ask others about theirs. If we don’t do it this way, we would discover a pattern and it wouldn’t be fun.
Some members have also brought wonderful things for the stew. We were most fond of the bird’s nest stew. It was packed with minerals and good for your skin and felt pleasant on the tongue. The kind of thing girls tend to go crazy for. It was probably the best ingredient in mystery stew history. Everyone also loved the shark fin because it has collagen in it. Oh, I’d be delighted if someone brought us a good beauty product this year.
✦ ✦ ✦
By the way…
You all haven’t forgotten to bring one other important item, right?
Yes. The short stories.
This may be a “mystery stew meeting,” but your short stories are the true main attraction for the night. Every meeting, we take turns reading our stories aloud while the other members listen and dine on the stew. You all wrote your short stories, correct?
Stories you only hear in the dark. Stories that you feel when you lose your sense of sight and your five senses betray you—isn’t this the perfect setting? This is the real thrill of our meetings. I think this is really why these meetings have gone on for such a long time.
Normally, you can choose your own topic. However, after that tragic incident, I decided to pick your topic for you, just this once. You may have struggled to write about it in such a limited amount of time, but I’d like you to think of it as an important lesson in writing.
That’s right. The topic is the death of former club president Itsumi Shiraishi.
Since elementary school, Itsumi was my best friend. We spent every day together. I still can’t believe that she’s gone.
Everyone always told us that we were complete opposites. Itsumi was a go-getter, someone who couldn’t rest until she’d settled everything in black-and-white. But I was more the type who lived a quiet life, sheltered in her shadow. I’ve been sickly since birth.
Don’t you find that friendships between girls our age exist within two extremes? If a girl is similar to you, you’ll either hate her or love her; if she’s your opposite, you will either love her or hate her. There’s no middle ground. I imagine you learn how to gracefully handle these kinds of things as you become an adult: you learn that whether you are similar or different, get along or don’t, these relationships provide us with the wisdom we need to survive in society.
But for our generation, this wisdom is impossible. All we care about are our own selfish emotions. We have to protect our feelings more than anything else. So, do we kill, or allow ourselves to be killed? Friendships between girls are always hanging in this balance. Life-or-death survival. This is especially true at an all-girls school like ours. Right, ladies?
Itsumi was the best partner for me in that way. She compensated for all of my weaknesses. We could coexist without killing each other. She signed up to volunteer with me when I said I was nervous doing it alone, pushed me to study abroad when I felt hesitant about it, and practiced debate with me when I told her I wasn’t very good at it. And, in turn, I am proud to say that I was the best partner for her too. Itsumi was bad with details—so I planned club events, looked at hotels and made reservations for her, and did research on the colleges she wanted to go to. Yes, we two were truly one. She often told me that she didn’t know what she would do without me, and I felt the same way about her. There are a lot of things I would’ve never experienced without her.
I think it was our advisor, Mr. Hojo, who had told us that we were like “the sun and the moon.” I was initially appalled that a Japanese language teacher like him would use such an awful cliché, but, after losing Itsumi, I realized he was right. Itsumi was my sun. I cannot shine without her. She was the reason for my existence.
So, when I lost Itsumi, it felt like half of my body had been ripped away from me, and I can’t find my balance even when I walk. It’s like this every day.